Bryan Singer Will Direct 'X-Men: Apocalypse,' Which Will Focus on 'First Class' Characters

When Bryan Singer tweeted "#Xmen #Apocalypse 2016!" last week, the director said a lot without really saying much. Confirmation quickly came that X-Men: Apocalypse was the title of the next X-Men movie and that it would hit theaters on May 27, 2016. Beyond those details though, we didn't know much. Was Singer going to direct? Would the movie focus on the characters from the original X-Men movies or X-Men: First Class? How would X-Men: Days of Future Past change the timeline going forward.

We have a few more answers now. On Monday, Vulture reported that Singer would be directing X-Men: Apocalypse. It'll be his fifth time at the helm of an X-Men movie, a pairing that really should have never been broken. C'mon, you know that X-Men: The Last Stand should've had Singer instead of Brett Ratner directing it.

Vulture also reported that X-Men: Apocalypse would "be a direct sequel set up in Days of Future Past's closing moments" and will focus on the James McAvoy-Michael Fassbender First Class cast. We learned a bit more about those "closing moments" over the weekend, with FirstShowing.net possibly scooping the story of how Apocalypse will play into the X-Men cinematic universe.

This is a huge spoiler, so stop reading if you don't want to know. You've been warned.

Let it be known that we're not going to spoil the absolute end of the film because, truth be told, it's a pretty spectacular ending that has some tidbits in the future that you'll have to see to believe. 

However, the credits bumper jumps back to the past with a young Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) in a ramshackle house in the desert eating dinner, clearly on the run from all the authorities who want to bring him down. While using a well outside to get some water, the young Magneto sees something fall from the night sky and crash to Earth nearby. Upon inspecting the impact zone, he encounters what is described as an "alien form" who is "towering, terrifying, with a twisted metal face and dark pits for eyes." It's Apocalypse and he says, "I have crossed rivers of time to find you." Magneto asks, "Who are you?" 

The alien responds, "I am your future." Suddenly Apocalypse merges with Magneto, who screams and blasts an insane amount of energy and shockwaves around him. This energy explosion levels everything around him, with a blast radius that goes for miles. As Magneto looks at what he's done, he has a realization of the power he now holds and a villainous grin begins to form before the film cuts to black.

Boom, Fassbender's Magneto becomes the human form of Apocalypse. This has huge ripple effects across the future for the X-Men films, distinctively setting up a separate timeline from the original X-Men movies.